Liam Millar has been backed to be a roaring success at the MKM Stadium
Former Fulham, Sheffield United and Derby County striker Paul Peschisolido believes Liam Millar’s move to Hull City is another example of the progress Canadian football is making.
Millar made a permanent move from FC Basel to City just hours before the start of the Championship season, with his arrival causing a flurry of excitement amongst Tigers fans, and his performances since have shown promise.
Peschisolido, who played for 13 clubs across a fine career which began with Toronto Blizzard in 1989 before finishing his career in Ireland with St Pats in 2009 and then going into management, believes there is cause for optimism for Canadian football, particularly on the international stage.
Millar was a key part of Jesse March’s squad that came fourth in last month’s Copa America, losing on penalties to Uruguay after a thrilling 2-2 draw in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“I’ve always loved to see Canadians coming over here,” he told SportsBoom.com. “The more players we have based in Europe, which in my opinion, contains the best leagues there are on the planet, the better as far as I’m concerned.
“Liam has done that. I watched him at Preston and then followed his move to Hull where I’m sure he’ll do really well also. Because he’s Canadian, I’ve kept an eye on his career and somehow become friends with his dad on Facebook. We don’t know each other and have never met in person but, apparently, we’re from not too far apart.
“Liam’s done really well, going to the Copa America and that will have helped to boost his knowledge. It’s important when you’re operating in the highest levels of the game, to not only have the ability but also the understanding of how to use it properly.
It wasn’t so long ago when half our team were amateurs or semi-professionals. We had a few in the North American Soccer League and the indoor leagues over here but, with all due respect, the standard isn’t the same.”
“Now it’s a completely different time. We’ve got Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich, Jonathan David at Lille and Ismael Kone who has just gone from Watford to Marseille. These boys are playing for some of the best teams in Europe. It’s exciting to see and bodes well for the future.”
